Six Student Personas: Which One Are You?

High school juniors and seniors are at a time of their lives when they’re starting to think about college; but what’s the key to finding the right school?

“Think of college like a four-year relationship,” says Becky Morehouse, Stamats Educational Services Group vice president of research and marketing. “Finding a good match can help determine how happy the

relationship will be over time.”

Stamats recently conducted a study called TeensTALK to find out what qualities about a school are most important to today’s college-bound students. Eight hundred juniors and seniors across the country were asked to rate 31 key attributes for their college choice, and from their answers, these six distinct personas emerged:

1. God and Service First

You care much more about a school’s religious affiliation than do those with other personas. In fact, you’re willing to sacrifice some graduate outcomes — such as a higher likelihood of finding a good job after graduation — for a college with a stronger religious affiliation.

Your lifelong goals include helping to save the environment, becoming involved in national politics and your local community as well as your church, and generally creating change in society. You’re a homebody, less willing to travel far from your family for college. Sixteen percent of study respondents share your views.

2. The Collegiate Experience How nice are the college grounds? What

is there to do off-campus? How friendly are the people at school? How good is campus housing? These are the questions you’ll likely ask first.

Compared with other personas, you’re twice as likely to be influenced by current college students in your school decision. You consult with those already at a prospective school to get the lowdown on college life. In your vision of college, a small student-teacher ratio and strong athletic or fine-arts programs aren’t that important. Social aspects and amenities are high priorities. You want college to be a fun experience in a cool city or area. Fourteen percent of study respondents share your views.

3. Be More than My Parents

You’re all about the

outcome when it comes to college. Your prospective alma mater should be a place where graduates get good jobs or can go on to good graduate schools. It must offer honors programs because you plan to be in one.

You’re twice as likely as those with other personas to major in pre-law or political science, although biology also attracts you. Your parents probably earned at least a bachelor’s degree before going on to successful professional or white-collar careers. Seventeen percent of study respondents share your views.

4. Nontraditional Traditional Students

Bottom line: college is expensive. What mainly drives you to or from a prospective college is its cost. Since four-year public schools generally are cheaper than private ones, you gravitate more to them. Or, you may be considering a two-year community college. To trim expenses, you’re much more likely than others to live at home and commute to school.

Campus amenities don’t concern you as much as they do other personas. Neither do attractive campus grounds or strong athletic programs. You may be the first person in your working-class family to attend college. You think it’s very unlikely that you’ll develop lifelong friends at school. Twenty-one percent of study respondents share your views.

5. Image and Reputation Conscious

Money isn’t an issue for you when it comes to college. You probably come from an affluent family with parents who have professional careers. A school’s overall academic reputation and the quality of campus amenities are much more important than cost. You want the best in an education, and it doesn’t matter if you have to travel farther from home — even a plane ride away — to get it.

You’re more likely to major in business or engineering than are those with other personas, and you have less desire to incorporate community work, volunteering or religion into your life. Private-independent colleges are definitely among those schools you’re considering. Eleven percent of study respondents share your views. 6. Personal Enrichment — Liberal Arts

College for you means getting a wellrounded education. English, music, education or psychology — those majors hold your gaze longer than others. But that gaze tends to look right past four-year public schools. You want what a lot of four-year private colleges offer: academic excellence; a small student-faculty ratio; honors programs; and a positive reputation for graduate outcomes, where graduates find good jobs or get into good graduate schools.

Compared with other personas, you’re more likely to want to live outside the United States at some point in your life. During college you plan to serve your community or join a student club. You probably draw the line, though, at pledging with a fraternity or sorority. Fifteen percent of study respondents share your views.

“Colleges and universities can use the study’s findings to help tailor their marketing messages to prospective students, but the use of persona works both ways,” says Morehouse. “These places also have personas of sorts. Reputation, history, wordof mouth assessments, location and rankings all contribute to a school’s image. Once college-bound teenagers get a sense of an institution’s persona they can use it to concentrate on schools that complement their own personas and eliminate those that clash.”